Indomitus
by PhoenixoftheLostandForgotten
Summary: When Jack is late for another Guardian meeting, the Guardians try to ground him. It doesn't go well.


"Sorry I'm late," Jack said as he flew in through the window.

As usual, Jack was late for the annual Guardian meeting. Once a year, they all gathered at the Pole and discussed… Nothing, really. They exchanged pleasantries, told each other of any issues they may have encountered, and basically did nothing of importance. Jack thought his time would be better spent creating a blizzard over Norway. They were long overdue for a snowfall, anyway.

"Jack!" North boomed cheerfully. "You are here! Now ve may begin!" Sandy smiled at him, and he grinned back while Tooth assaulted his mouth. Bunny's expression soured.

"What?!" Bunny asked, incredulous. "Just like that? He keeps us waiting all day and we just 'begin'? I don't think so, mate."

Tooth rushed to Jack's defense. "Quit exaggerating, Bunny! We've only been here for a few hours, and Jack's busy."

"So are we!"

North sensed an argument beginning, and, after exchanging a look with Sandy, turned to the Pooka. "And vhat vould you suggest, Bunny?"

Aster thought a moment. "Ground him."

"Vhat?"

"Ground. Him," Bunny said, enunciating each syllable. "He's still a kid, and we're Guardians. Ground him." No one noticed Jack, forgotten despite being the topic of discussion, standing in the corner, hood pulled up and nearly trembling with fury. Frost crept out without conscious thought, reacting to his rage. His eyes darkened dangerously. Outside, the wind picked up. The others chattered on, totally oblivious.

"Fine!" North exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air. "Ve vill ground him! Jack, give us ze staff." He held his hand out to the teen, not even glancing at the frozen boy as he did so.

"No."

The one word was spoken so quietly, they nearly didn't hear it. Sandy was the only one to notice the icy edge to his voice. The other Guardians finally turned to look at Jack.

Bunny turned even more slowly than the others. "What did you just say?"

"I said "no,"" Jack responded.

"Jack," North began. "I know vhat ze staff means to you, but Bunny eez right. You are still child, and ve have responsibility. You vere late, and ve are all busy. You understand, da?" He either didn't notice or simply ignored Sandy's warnings and attempts to grab his attention.

Jack finally raised his head enough for them to see his face, shadowed though it was by the hood. His eyes, as cold and hard as ice, seemed to shine, almost glowing with his anger. Finally, the Guardians seemed to notice the danger they were in. They saw the frost at Jack's feet, expanding and receding, pulsing with a life of its own. The sharp, harsh patterns were unlike anything the Guardians had ever seen him create before. Outside, the Wind picked up, slamming the shutters and demanding to be let in. Jack took a single, slow step towards the Guardians. He stopped when he was just barely out of reach of the shadows. Then he spoke.

"Just like that?" he asked. His voice was soft, almost inaudible, but there was a bitter, mocking edge to his words that sent chills down their spines. It was not the voice of the fun-loving teen they had always known. _This_ was the voice of the winter spirit who had been abandoned and shunned for three hundred years. _This_ was the voice of an adult trapped inside of a teen's body. _This_ was the voice of a spirit who had seen much more than one of any age ever should.

_This _was Winter.

"In spite of my appearance," he began. "I am not a child. I have lived for over three hundred years. You have _no right _to pass judgment on me." His voice was still quiet, but it was slowly rising. "I am not some infant to be slapped on the wrist and sent to his room." He was almost snapping at them. "I am not some pre-pubescent child to be spanked and have his favorite toy taken away." He was speaking more loudly now – not quite shouting, but not exactly lowering his voice, either. "I am not a rebellious teenager to be _grounded,_" he spat out the last word with bitter sarcasm. "When it so pleases you." He took another step forward, leaving the shadows behind him. He lowered his hood, and the Guardians took and involuntary step back. His young, cheerful face was darkened by anger. His usually smooth features were harsh and craggy, only further accentuated by the frost now coating his entire body. "You believe that it is your _responsibility _to take care of me? It is not. You lost that chance three hundred years ago, when you dismissed me as nothing more than a troublemaker. I have cared for myself for centuries, with no help from you so-called Guardians." Throughout his speech, Jack had been unconsciously coating the walls and floor with ice. The color of the walls could no longer be seen through the rime, and the floor was slick with the frost that seemed alive. From the ceiling, slowly growing sharp icicles hung, threatening with wickedly sharp tips. The ice around them pulsed with a blue-white power. Their breath plumed in front of them in dissipating clouds.

"Jack," Tooth started. "we just –"

"NO!" Jack roared. The Winds finally broke through the window, and the shutters nearly fell off their hinges with the force they were thrown against the wall. Winds rushed into the room, just as furious as their Rider. The East, West, and South winds screamed through the room, lifting books, papers, and the occasional table and throwing them at the Guardians. The North wind remained curled around Jack like a dog guarding its master, growling at anything that came near. Jack shouted, and the Winds channeled his voice so it hit the Guardians like a physical blow. "You say you want my staff? You will never have it. This staff is my one and only possession. It is the conduit for my powers, and it is my connection to the Winds. You seem to think you can just use it as a punishment, a way to control me." Jack slowly rose into the air, lightning crackling around him dangerously. The room slowly darkened as the storm outside blocked out the sun. In moments, the only illumination was the lightning that sparked around Jack. The electricity in the air made their hair stand on end. The blue sparks glinted around the room, reflected and refracted countless times until all the Guardians could see were black afterimages superimposed over a dark figure. The figure's ghoulish face, pale and slightly gaunt, was terrifying when illuminated by the lightning. "Know this, Guardians. I am old. I am powerful. I am uncontrolled. I am the Spirit of Winter, the Rider of the Winds. I am Old Man Winter, Jack Frost, and Jokul Frosti. I am the heart of every blizzard, and the center of every storm. I am the shepherd, I am the shepherded. I am the Bringer of Death, but also of Life. I am the Herald of Winter, as well as its embodiment. I am both the Beginning and the End of each cycle. I am Winter."

The figure that was Jack Frost looked at them, and they saw him as he was. He was a force of nature, an element that could never be tamed or contained. He was not a child, and he was not under their control. What Jack Frost did, he did because he wanted to, and none could force him to do anything that he didn't. He could very well be one of the most powerful spirits to have ever lived. When they had been fighting Pitch, the Guardians had been irritated when Jack seemed to treat it as a game. Now they saw why. Jack could have defeated Pitch whenever he wanted, but he'd been having fun. A game was all it had ever been.

As the Guardians looked into his glowing blue eyes, they realized their mistake. It was one they would never make again.

Jack had made his point. Without a backwards glance, he flew through the window, taking the Winds with him and leaving the Guardians standing in a ruined office in suffocating silence.

Suddenly, there was a crash. The yetis had finally broken through the foot of ice that had prevented them from opening the door earlier. The Guardians jumped at the sudden noise. It was only when they tried to move that they discovered their feet were iced to the floor. In the hours it took to restore the office to its former state, the Guardians couldn't help but look for Jack Frost whenever they passed a window or felt a cold draft. After Jack had gone, the blizzard had dissipated quickly, leaving no trace of ever having been there.

Jack was not seen by another spirit until the next meeting. Again, he was late, but no one called him out. To the outside world, he seemed to be the same as he had always been. But the Guardians now knew better. They looked closely, and they saw Winter in ice blue eyes. When the next spirit attempted to take over, the Guardians were the only ones not surprised when Jack Frost neutralized the threat with barely a thought.* Though he was still a rebellious teen to the rest of the world, the Guardians treated him as an equal. Never again did they threaten him with false promises of retribution, nor did they attempt to change his ways, for they knew they had no chance. And when the last day came to the Earth, Jack Frost created a shell of ice over the entire planet. Though the effort nearly killed him, he kept the shield up for centuries before the expanding sun finally became too much for him. The shell melted away, and the spirits within perished in a matter of minutes. But Jack's sacrifice had given others enough time to escape, and his name lived on throughout the colonies humans had set up throughout the galaxy. He was called the Savior, and the Protector. He was the most powerful spirit to have ever lived.

And he was remembered.

**A/N: 1705 words. I am very proud of myself, considering most of it was written on my iPod. I probably should have been working on the Supernatural fic I promised I would write (sorry K. ), but the plot bunnies just wouldn't leave me alone. Anyway, at the end of this story, I decided that the apocalypse would be in 5 billion years when the sun expands into a red giant. Or maybe humans screwed up and set it off early. Either way, Jack, since his power has grown, creates an ice shell around the entire planet to protect everyone still living there. He's able to keep it up for a few centuries, but eventually it just becomes too much and he dies from exhaustion. By this point, humans have already colonized other planets, and those who escape Earth tell them about Jack. I'm thinking about creating a story based around this specific event, but I'm not sure if I should. **

***This is a reference to another story I have in progress. Basically, a spirit crashes North's New Year's party and tries to kill everyone. Jack is in the middle of something, and he gets irritated and freezes the spirit solid without a thought. **

**Well, including this author's note, I've almost reached 2000 words, so I'm going to stop here. See ya later. **


End file.
